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Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy No. 9, 2026 (CFP (full articles))

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Event: CFP (full articles)
Categories: Postcolonial, Hispanic & Latino, Interdisciplinary, Popular Culture, World Literatures, African-American, 20th & 21st Century, 20th & 21st Century, Adventure & Travel Writing, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Aesthetics, Anthropology/Sociology, Classical Studies, Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies, Film, TV, & Media, Food Studies, History, Philosophy, African & African Diasporas, Asian & Asian Diasporas, Australian Literature, Canadian Literature, Caribbean & Caribbean Diasporas, Indian Subcontinent, Eastern European, Mediterranean, Middle East, Native American, Scandinavian, Pacific Literature, Miscellaneous
Event Date: 2025-09-01 Abstract Due: 2025-09-01

                       Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy

                                                                   No. 9, 2026

                                      Guest Editor: Alexandra Cheira

                                      Co-Editor: Ana Rita Martins

 

Messengers from the Stars is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal, offering academic articles, reviews, and providing an outlet for a wide range of creative work inspired by science fiction and fantasy. The 2026 issue will be dedicated to the following theme:

                                         The Streets of Tomorrow:

                         The Cityscape(s) of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The city has always been a fertile ground for storytelling in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction. From the glittering spires of fantastic cities like Gondolin (The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien) to the dark alleys of Chiba City (Neuromancer, William Gibson), urban spaces can embody both humanity’s hopes and dreams as well as its fears and uncertainties becoming a kaleidoscope of contradictions (Soja 1996). Likewise, the numerous spaces within the city (whether private or public) can shape its inhabitants’ collective memory, embodying the city’s past and “contain[ing] it like the lines of a hand” (Calvino 1972), while simultaneously molding the present and carving the foreseeable future. Streets, as major arteries of the cityscape, serve not only as stages for connection and transformation but also resistance, especially in Fantasy, Science and Speculative Fiction in which cities can become living characters that shape and are shaped by their inhabitants.

For Messengers from the Stars, No. 9, we are especially interested in contributions that analyse the role of streets, the city or urban landscapes in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction, with a focus on both utopias and dystopias.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Cities as Characters
  • Dystopian Cities
  • Ecocriticism and Sustainable Urban Futures
  • Resistance and Rebellion
  • Urban Utopias
  • Streets as Liminal Spaces
  • Urban Magic and Folklore

Submissions, between 4000 and 6000 words in English, must be sent to mfts.journal@gmail.com by September 1, 2025. The authors will be notified by the end of November 2025.

Furthermore, we also welcome creative texts (short stories, poems, flash fiction, etc.) that fall within this number’s theme and should be between 1,000 to 2,000 words.

In addition, you can propose a book or film review. We welcome book and film reviews on current science fiction and fantasy research and PhD dissertations. Reviews should be between 500 to 1,000 words. Longer reviews, e.g. dealing with more than one book, must be agreed upon with the Editorial Board.

Books available for review:

Ahlberg, Sofia. Magic, Literature and Climate Pedagogy in a Time of Ecological Crisis. Bloomsbury, 2024. ISBN 9781350401143.

Álvarez-Ossorio, Alfonso, et al. Game of Thrones - A View from the Humanities Vol. 1. Time, Space and Culture. Palgrave MacMillan, 2023. ISBN 9783031154881.

Bacon, Simon. Zombie Futures in Literature, Media and Culture Pandemics, Society and the Evolution of the Undead in the 21st Century. Bloomsbury, 2024. ISBN 9781350285491.

Brooker, Will. Never-Ending Watchmen: Adaptations, Sequels, Prequels and Remixes. Bloomsbury, 2023. ISBN 9781350198760.

Carrión-Arias, Rafael. Batman and the Shadows of Modernity. A Critical Genealogy on Contemporary Hero in the Age of Nihilism. Routledge, 2024. ISBN 9781003362210

Esser, Helena. Steampunk London: Neo-Victorian Urban Space and Popular Transmedia Memory. Bloomsbury, 2024. ISBN 9781350433908.

Hawkes, Joel et al. American Science Fiction Television and Space: Productions and (Re)configurations (1987-2021). Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. ISBN 9783031105272.

Kotsko, Adam. Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise Era. University of Minnesota Press, 2025. ISBN 9781517919108.

All submissions must follow the journal’s guidelines available on the journal's website: https://messengersfromthestars.letras.ulisboa.pt/journal/submission-guidelines

https://messengersfromthestars.letras.ulisboa.pt/

mfts.journal@gmail.com

Alexandra Cheira & Ana Rita Martins